“The message we’ve tried to send over the last few days is that it was fun and maybe even necessary, but it’s more fun to win,” Dundon said. “It’s more fun to do the things that lead to success and hopefully we’ll start to build more habits, that those processes will lead to the kind of wins that I expect, and I think everybody expects.”
Dundon spoke Thursday with fellow investors in the “Rip City Rising” ownership group. The NBA Board of Governors on Monday approved a reported $4.25 billion sale of the team by the estate of Paul Allen and the new owners took charge of the team on Tuesday.
The Blazers are 39-38 in the Western Conference, half a game behind the eighth-place LA Clippers. Having already clinched a play-in spot, if Portland can finish eighth it has a one-game easy chance of advancing to the playoffs.
The new owners group includes Dundon, co-founder of Portland-based Shiel Tile, investment firm Collective Global; Mark Zehr, co-chairman of Blue Owl Capital; Cherng Family Trust, the investment firm of the Panda Express co-founders; Stan Middleman of Freedom Mortgage, who also owns a stake in the Philadelphia Phillies and others.
In addition to the Trail Blazers, the acquisition includes Rip City Remix and Rip City Management in the NBA G League, which operates the Moda Center.
Earlier this month, Dundon sold a share of the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes to three new minority owners, a transaction reportedly worth $332.5 million for 12.5% of the team.
Dundon purchased a stake in the Hurricanes in 2017, became majority owner in 2018, and took sole ownership of the club in 2021. He is the chairman and managing partner of Dallas-based firm Dundon Capital Partners.
While Dundon said he wouldn’t hesitate to make a big deal, Blazers general manager Joe Cronin had a potential deal at the trade deadline that could make a splash.
“If that opportunity exists, I’ll probably be more aggressive than other guys,” Dundon said. “If it doesn’t exist, you have to find the pieces to continually get better, then decide whether you can perform well enough to win a championship, or you have to take a step back.”
Portland has drafted a group of young players in recent years, including Scooter Henderson, Shayden Sharp, Toumani Camara and Donovan Clingan. The team’s top scorer is Deni Avdija, in his fifth season.
The sale of the Trail Blazers comes after the Oregon Legislature approved funding for the renovation of the Moda Center in early March. The measure gives the state joint ownership of the 30-year-old arena with the city and provides a mechanism to secure $365 million to renovate the building before the women’s NCAA Final Four in 2030.
Allen, the Microsoft co-founder who died in 2018, purchased the Blazers in 1988 for $70 million. His estate announced last May that it had begun the process of selling the team. Allen also owned minority shares of the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Major League Soccer’s Seattle Sounders.
Allen stipulated in his will to the eventual sale of his teams that the proceeds be donated to charitable efforts. Allen’s estate announced that it began the process of selling the Seahawks in mid-February, approximately two weeks after the team captured the franchise’s second Super Bowl championship.
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